Personalization enables business-to-business companies to leverage customer data to deliver better brand experiences. Unfortunately, few large businesses have become truly customer-centric, which is a prerequisite for effective personalization.

With a population of 11.5 million, African-American millennials comprise 14 percent of the total millennial population in the U.S. and 25 percent of the total black population, according to Nielsen. Brands would be wise to open their arms to this important market.

The GDPR is quickly approaching, but many brands remain unprepared. With regulators promising hefty fines for failure to comply, it would behoove marketers to make sure they're prepared sooner rather than later.